A niggle of doubt tickled my stomach as I got into my car. I was almost certain Ophelia was being evasive. Lavinia had said she was lighting a candle at almost the same time—wouldn’t Ophelia have seen her? It was possible they had missed each other. I wasn’t sure of the exact timing.

I doubted Ophelia had pushed Lavinia—what would be her motive? But if she wasn’t being evasive because she knew something about Lavinia’s murder, then what, exactly, was she hiding?

***

“Ophelia Withington?” Pepper scrunched up her nose. “I don’t think she’s the killer.”

“Why not?” I asked. “Maybe she had some kind of grudge against Lavinia. She does seem to be mean, selfish and spiteful.”

“She wasn’t always that way, you know.” Pepper sat down on the sofa while she waited for me to organize my sales receipts for the day.

“Really?” I cocked my head at her.

“She was actually very nice and kind when she first came here. Pete’s lengthy illness and death made her bitter.” Pepper looked at the canister of tea leaves she’d brought from her store. “Come to think of it, she might benefit from one of my teas.”

My brows shot up. Pepper’s special tea’s sometimes backfired—I shuddered to think of Ophelia Withington being even meaner than she was now.

I took a sip from the tall glass of iced tea Pepper had brought. She usually closed up the tea room earlier than I closed the bookstore. Sometimes she’d bring a snack or tea over, which we’d enjoy before we walked down to our cars together. Today she’d brought iced tea to celebrate the beginning of spring—it was only sixty outside, but after a long winter in the White Mountains, sixty felt like summer.

I finished my record keeping and pushed the drawer of my antique cash register shut.

“All finished?” Pepper asked. “Looks like you made some sales today.”

“I had a pretty good day. Sold a mint condition, first edition of Nancy Drew and made a few sales from the used book section.” The Nancy Drew made me a couple thousand richer—the used books would buy me coffee for the week.

“That’s great,” Pepper said. “I had a visit from Derek Bates. He wanted some Wolfsbane tea. He’s such a nice guy.”

“He is. He came here, too. He was looking for an old family scrapbook. I guess his mother sold it at a yard sale by mistake.”

Pepper burst out laughing. The Bates family came from old money. Actually more like old-old money. So old that no one remembered how they originally made the money.

“Idris let her have a yard sale? I can’t imagine that.”